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No start, done every trick in the book. Need experts!

2K views 12 replies 6 participants last post by  Jake10h 
#1 ·
Hey guys, hoping I can find some wisdom, because I am completely lost. I have a '96, 320,000 miles. Purchased a year ago, haven't had any major issues till now. About a month ago we hit a cold snap, I was out of town on a business trip. Came home after a week, and the truck wouldn't start. Thought it would be a simple fix... And that was almost a month ago. First I started with the fuel system. Thought maybe fuel had gelled, so I did the Diesel 911 trick. After that, I was thinking maybe sediment in the fuel system. Pulled the fuel bowl, there was a little sediment in the bottom. But filter looked good, so I swapped the filters, cleaned the bowl, and reinstalled. Then I checked the metal lines coming out of the mechanical pump in the valley, and they appeared to be pumping fuel out, so no apparent clogs. Next I tried starting in neutral to see if it was the park sensor. After this, I replaced the black CPS with a grey. Still no luck. Took me a little while, but I got the Auto Enginuity scanner to run a buzz test. It failed, after buzzing all 8 fine, so I was told it would be the IDM. Got a replacement today, installed and retested. It finished the test, but said there was low voltage on cylinder 5. Plugged the truck in to warm up the block for about 3 hrs, since it was 25° outside. Then I tried to start it again, and still no luck. I can turn the engine over with the starter all day long, but it will not catch at all. After cranking for several minutes, I still smell no diesel fumes coming out the exhaust, which makes me think it's still some sort of fuel issue. This truck is stock. Only mod is a Hyperteck chip, which I went through and reprogrammed to make sure it hadn't defaulted to some weird setting. What am I missing??
 
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#6 ·
Um, you sure wouldn't want to test the glow plugs WITH the engine running. Testing the glow plugs is a simple matter of putting an ohmmeter on the terminals associated with them on the valve cover connectors.

REMOVE (don't just "reset" or "set to stock", but physically remove) the chip. That's the only way to rule it out (or in).

Is the tach moving while cranking? Are you getting any exhaust smoke while cranking?
 
#7 ·
Well, yes, I could test the glow plugs with an ohmmeter. But to do the internal test with the AutoEnginuity scanner you have to have the engine running. I've already pretty much ruled out the glow plugs though. The truck won't start on a 60° day.

The tachometer does not move, no exhaust smoke. I'm 90% sure it's a fuel issue, just can't sort through where it might be...
 
#8 ·
AutoEnginuity will not test glowplugs on the Powerstroke. The only OBS trucks that had glowplug monitoring circuits were the California 1997's with the splitshot injectors. These tests are simple and free, so why not try them:


For checking the injector/glowplug wiring: From each valvecover gasket connection's outermost pins (2 per connector) to ground you should get 0.1 to 2 ohms (indicates good plug and wiring). From each valvecover gasket connection's center pin to each immediately adjacent pin, you should get around 3 ohms (indicates good injector solenoid and wiring). You should not get any continuity from any of the outer pins to the 3 inner pins (indicates no shorts between injector and glowplug wiring). You should also get 0 to 1 ohms from each of the external harness connectors outer pins back to the Glowplug Relay's large terminal on the GP side (indicates good wiring from external connections back to the relay).
To check the glowplug relay (GPR), measure the voltage drop across the GPR's large terminals. While the GPR is active (up to 1.5 to 2 minutes after the key is turned to Wait-to-Start) put your meter leads on the large terminals (one lead on one large terminal and the other lead on the other large terminal). The measures how much voltage is being "lost" across the relay. A reading of 0.3V or more indicates a bad relay.


Cheers!
 
#9 ·
60F is still stone COLD, compared to the temperatures needed for compression ignition. You need glow plugs at any ambient temperature, if the engine is completely cold. And it's not just AE; as said, except for current draw monitoring on the '97 California trucks (and that's only one bank vs. the other), there's no device you can connect to the diagnostic port to do any "internal test" on the glow plugs. AE WILL tell you GP run time and WTS run time, but those are only calculated values; it can't tell you if the GPs are actually doing their job.
 
#10 ·
Ok guys... After several days of working on it on and off, here's what I've got. Glow plugs seem to test ok. Outside to ground is about 1.8. Continuity seems good. Center to middle pins was about 4.2 if I remember correctly. Only possible issue was the relay tested at 0.7 in voltage loss... But the glow plugs still seem to be firing... Testing the draw induced when they cycle on and it's significant.

I still have a feeling that it's a fuel issue, because even after cranking it for several minutes, I can't really smell any raw diesel at the exhaust pipe. However, I went through yesterday and tore the entire fuel system apart. Regulator and all, checking for blockages, leaks, etc. Fuel pump is only a year old, top of the line, but I even pulled it and it seemed ok. Put a pressure gauge on the FPR and after cranking the truck for about 45 seconds it will pop to 55psi. Resting psi is about 20. Also pulled the ECM to check for a chip. Realized after the fact that the Hypertech 3 which I have actually reflashes the internal memory, so no chip to go bad. I tried reflashing it just for hoots, and it had no effect.

What else should I try? I'm about clueless now...
 
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